Not Once
by FailKitten13
Summary: ZoroXReader story that started out as a one shot but turned into something longer. You escape from an evil pirate crew only to be rescued by some more fearsome pirates...or, so you thought. I hope you enjoy. C: Rated for language.
1. Chapter 1

How did this happen to you of all people?  
Never in your life did you imagine you would end up on a small longboat at sea - the one place you hated to be most of all - as a result of an escape from a pirate ship, not once. You didn't care what they said: Your freedom wasn't worth any amount of money, not even all the money in the world!  
Now, you were taking on your third day alone. You were sure to starve to death soon. Trying to catch fish by hand wasn't working, and the hand you'd been using was turning weird colours. You couldn't even feel it anymore. It didn't help at all that you could see snow falling in sheets all over the place.  
As you were pondering giving up, a shape on the horizon caught your eye.  
Slowly and carefully, you stood up. You didn't care how urgent this was, there was probably no recovering if your little boat capsized.  
"OVER HERE!" you shouted urgently, waving your hands. You could feel the boat moving precariously beneath your feet. This was your last resort.  
Standing on your toes and continuing to wave your arms crazily, you screamed at the top of your lungs, "HELP ME! I'M DYING!"  
It seemed to be working: The ship was heading your way. Never in your life did you imagine you could be saved from such a desperate situation, not once. Tears welled up in your eyes from the sheer joy of finding salvation at last.  
To avoid further risk of capsizing, you cautiously sat back down in your boat.  
The joyous occasion was, of course, ruined. You didn't know whether to just drown yourself or sit and congratulate your extraordinary bad luck.  
The ship heading for you was yet another pirate ship. It wasn't just any pirate ship, either(why would you expect any different?). It was the pirate ship belonging to the man with the biggest bounty in the entire East Blue(of fucking course it was). The tears behind your eyes changed to ones of frustration and fell down your face. There wasn't anything you could do. You could either die on your little lifeboat slowly and painfully or just let Straw Hat Luffy take care of it for you quickly.  
Never in your life did you imagine you would have to face someone of his reputation, not once.  
As the ship pulled near you, you could make out at least three people staring down at your red, puffy, tear-soaked, frostbitten face.  
"...Help?" you said weakly.  
Maybe you could fake it. It couldn't be too hard to play pirate, right? All you had to do was make up some stories about stealing things and killing people. That was what pirates did, right?  
You couldn't get any more words out before you were pulled into the ship.  
Never in your life did you imagine you would be grabbed, yanked from your position, and slammed against a wall by a rubber man, not once.  
Yet, it happened. And you were unconscious in an instant.

"...did a fantastic job, you moron! What if she's dead?!"  
Your eyes opened slowly, taking in your surroundings.  
"But she's NOT!"  
"I can't believe you'd throw a lady around in such a way! I ought to throw you overboard!"  
There were three people standing over you(not the same exact three as the ones who'd first seen you), and two of them were arguing angrily. The third was some kind of teddy bear thing with a blue nose and a pink top hat. No, it didn't make sense to you either. That one was tending to your wounds, it seemed.  
Never in your life had you had such a horrid headache, not once.  
So, naturally, you couldn't stop yourself when your hand shot up to hold your head as you groaned in pain.  
"Owwwww..."  
"See?! She's just fine, Sanji! You can't throw me overboard!"  
"YOU'RE LUCKY SHE IS AFTER THE WAY YOU TREATED HER!"  
"If all you two can do is argue amongst yourselves, then leave!"  
Finally, the teddy bear spoke.  
"She has an awful headache, and you two are just making it worse," he added, tying a final bandage around your arm.  
Why were there so many bandages on that arm? Why couldn't you move it?  
"She wouldn't have had one in the first place if you hadn't thrown her into the wall," the blonde grumbled as he headed out the door.  
"She's gonna be fine!" the dark-haired one called after him as he followed him out.  
You turned to what you assumed to be the doctor, a confused look on your face.  
What should you even ask first?  
"Uhm...I...why do you have antlers?"  
What a wonderful first question! You sarcastically gave yourself an inward round of applause.  
"Uh..."  
"Nevermind...I meant to ask why I can't move my right arm...or hand."  
"Oh, well, you see..." the doctor began, seeming nervous about telling you this.  
These crazy fucks took my arm and kept it in the freezer as payment, you thought, they're going to sell it to the black market and continue to take my limbs in this manner until I'm a bloody stump. I hate pirates.  
"I had to cut off your right hand," he finally managed. "It was so frostbitten that it was turning black. I had to take it off so it wouldn't spread."  
Oh, that was a much better explanation.  
"What were you doing out there by yourself?"  
You sat up, feeling a little better about being much bigger than this little doctor bear guy.  
"I...was...fishing?" you tried.  
Wow. You could tell this was going to go very smoothly.  
"How could you have gotten such horrible frostbite if you were just fishing?!"  
"Uhm...I didn't have a fishing pole?"  
The doctor stared at you, as if he was literally looking through your lie.  
"Can I explain this later?" you asked, fidgeting.  
"Sure. I guess I should ask you what your name is first. I'm Chopper, by the way."  
"I'm...my name is [NAME]," you blurted before you could even think of a badass pirate name to give yourself. What the fuck kind of pirate goes around in life as [NAME] and leaves it that way? None, that's who.  
"Do you think you can walk?"  
You nodded, puffing out your chest. It was tough-piratey act time.  
"It's just a little headache!" you laughed. "A hand? Ha! I've been in worse scrapes than this."  
As you spoke, you stood from the bed. Pain shot through your head and made you wish for a guillotine to be handy, but you were just so good at this pirate thing.  
"In fact, I think I'm ready to just...go," you added carefully.  
"You can't leave yet, [NAME]!" Chopper told you desperately. "You're my patient! I have to keep you at least on this ship until you get completely better!"  
You frowned. "How long will that be?"  
"A month at least! I cut your hand off!"  
That was true. You sighed very heavily.  
"Fine...Chopper. I guess if I have to."  
Chopper nodded.  
"Can I at least go above deck?" you asked him, though you weren't completely sure you wanted to go up there with all those pirates.  
"Sure," Chopper said. "Just be careful."  
Hesitantly, you finally decided it was alright to head up the stairs. You ended up in the galley. Who else would you find but Straw Hat Luffy? No one, that's who.  
He was the dark-haired one that was in the room with you before, you realised as you watched him dig through the fridge in front of you.  
You tried to sneak past him, but as it turns out you sucked at it and he saw you immediately.  
His face stuffed like a chipmunk's, he waved at you.  
"Hi, weird lady," he greeted through mountains of unidentifyable food.  
You blinked at him, not sure of what to say back for the simple reason your mind wouldn't get off the topic of him talking with his mouth full.  
"Did I give you brain damage?" he continued when you didn't respond.  
"Uhhhh...no?" you replied.  
He swallowed whole everything that was in his greedy little mouth.  
"Do you still have a headache?"  
"...Yep."  
"I'm sorry," he said with a bow.  
"That's...that's okay."  
He didn't seem like he deserved the bounty the marines had given him. Perhaps they were going soft? Maybe they'd mistaken one of his crew members for him? Well, one thing was for sure: You hadn't seen that crew member yet. So, maybe it was the former.  
Awkwardly, you excused yourself and stepped outside. There were at least three people you hadn't seen(the ones you had seen before being the blonde from the first and second encounter with crew members and the long-nosed guy from the first)that were there. Right before you was a redheaded girl keeping an eye on the logue pose on her wrist. On the lower deck was a dark-haired woman reading a book in a lawn chair. The third was a sleeping man with freakish muscle mass, green hair, and three swords.  
Who carried around three swords? you wondered dumbly.  
The redhead turned around when she heard the door close behind you.  
"Oh, hey. I saw Luffy swing you into the ship earlier. Are you feeling alright?" she asked you.  
She seemed pretty sweet for a horrible, terrifying pirate.  
You nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."  
You remembered your tough pirate act and didn't mention the headache that was busy ripping your poor brain into bite-size pieces.  
"Well, I'm Nami. I'm the navigator."  
"Nice to meet you...I'm [NAME]."  
No sense in changing your name to something scary now. You'd already told one of them your real name, and they might keelhaul you for lying to them.  
"You said you're the navigator?"  
"That's right."  
"Well...are there any islands with doctors coming up? Do you think?"  
"Well, Not for a while. Besides, look at how many bandages are on your hand. You have to stay here and let our doctor finish his treatment for you."  
You sighed audibly again.  
Before you could think of an argument for that, the tall blonde guy was making his way up the stairs toward the two of you.  
"Ah! You've woken up!" he said, seeming more enthusiastic than he really should be. "I hope our idiot captain didn't hurt you too badly."  
You were taken aback by the phrase 'idiot captain'. There was no doubt in your mind now: There was a mistake on the posters. The captain took one of his crew members' glory for himself. But which one? Was this terrifying crew member in some sort of dungeon below deck somewhere? Had you just managed to be in a different place than him all this time?  
"No. He only gave me a headache."  
"He gives us all a headache," the long-nosed guy piped up from the edge of the ship, where he was fishing.  
You looked down at him because he'd spoken. However, right when you tried to turn your attention back to the blondie that was talking to you, he had pressed something warm to your face.  
"WHAT THE - "  
"Here," he interrupted your moment of confusion, "hold this in place. I'll go make you some tea."  
Hesitantly, you cooperated(it was a one-time use heating pad or whatever those are called), and he slipped into the kitchen.  
Confused, you turned to Nami for answers.  
"What just happened...?"  
"Oh, that's just Sanji. Don't pay any attention to him. He acts like this all the time."  
You nodded slowly, still confused as to what to make of what just took place.  
"HEY! ZORO!" Nami shouted. "Usopp, get Zoro's attention, would you?"  
Usopp - the long-nosed guy - slid onto the deck, leaned his fishing pole against the side of the boat, and headed in the green-haired man's direction.  
"Wait, wait, wait," you said hastily, backing up a couple of steps. "Did you say Zoro?"  
Nami looked at you, confused. "Yeah...?"  
"Like...Roronoa Zoro?"  
"That's him."  
"...The pirate hunter...Roronoa Zoro?"  
"Yes, [NAME], Zoro."  
Fuck. He'd become a pirate. He was probably a lot meaner now than he was when he was a pirate hunter. You were certain this was the guy that the marines thought was Straw Hat Luffy. You were dead meat. All of your lies would soon come to the light because Zoro would use some kind of Samurai mind trick thing on you and make you tell everything.  
A little too hastily, you spun around and scrambled into the galley.  
Never in your life had you been so close to death so many times in one day, not once.  
You shut the door behind you, leaning back against it and very nearly hyperventilating.  
Sanji, whom you'd forgotten had gone in there earlier, looked up immediately when you came in.  
"What's the matter, dear?" he asked you.  
"...You...I...guys...pirates...Zoro..." you tried to explain.  
You could see how someone would get confused from such an elaborate explanation.  
Sanji frowned. "Dammit. What did Zoro do this time?" he demanded as he stormed out of the galley, seemingly forgetting he was making something.  
What was he doing?!  
You started to follow him out the door, but decided against it. If that guy thought he could take on Roronoa Zoro, you weren't going to go out there and mess with him. Instead, you headed back into the room you were in originally.  
"Doc, I've decided I like it down here much better," you told Chopper as you entered.  
"Is something wrong, [NAME]?"  
You shook your head quickly enough to feel the aforementioned brain pieces rattle about in there. Damn, that hurt.  
"I just...think I'll be good down here for the next month. Yep."  
In a few minutes, Sanji came down the stairs, a weird mixture of confusion and frustration evident on his face.  
"Zoro said he didn't do anything, but I don't buy it. Why are you so pale?"  
Were you pale? You hadn't noticed.  
Then was when Sanji noticed the bandages around where your hand once was and sort of freaked.  
"What happened to your hand?! Did you cut it on something in the kitchen?!"  
"What? No. Chopper cut it off," you said absentmindedly.  
That was a terrible choice of words, as you came to find out.  
Sanji was silent for a moment, jaw agape, before he shot a deadly glare toward Chopper.  
"Chopper, what the hell?! What made you think - "  
"She had frostbite, Sanji! Her hand was completely black!"  
Sanji blinked in confusion for a moment. His attention was then turned back to you.  
"Why was your hand all black?" he asked.  
"Why are you asking me so many questions?" you retorted whinily.  
Being the centre of attention was certainly not all it was cracked up to be.  
"Oh, you're absolutely right! I'm sorry about all that! Why don't we just start with your name?"  
"...[NAME]..."  
"And I'm Sanji!"  
"Nami told me."  
Thinking before speaking was not your forte.  
Suddenly, the door to the outside world opened. You didn't know there was a door down there, hence why you went up to the galley first. Perhaps you just hadn't been paying attention.  
"Hey, what's going on in here?" Nami demanded. "[NAME], why were you in such a hurry to run away? I was getting Zoro up to meet you."  
You only realised at that moment that you were shaking nearly enough to be counted as an epileptic.  
"Um...it's...it's cold outside," you replied dumbly.  
A look of realisation came over Nami's face. "You're scared of Zoro, aren't you?"  
"NO! No way! I'm not scared of this...'Zoro' person," you replied, putting on your tough voice again even though you were still shaking your terrified head off.  
Never in your life had you told a bigger lie, not once.  
"Then come out here and say hello," Nami insisted.  
Luffy poked his head into the room. "Who's scared of Zoro?" he asked.  
"I'm not scared of Zoro!" you shouted indignantly. "I just...uhhh...I just like it okay in here. That's all."  
"But Zoro isn't scary," Luffy told you.  
"Which is why I'm not scared of him!"  
"Then why are you shaking?" Luffy pried.  
"Luffy, leave her alone," Sanji interjected.  
"Fine, I'll go meet Zoro if it pleases you," you huffed.  
What? No! What were you saying?!  
"But...I-I mean if it...doesn't really matter to you, that would be gr-okay, too. I mean, I don't absolutely have to meet him...?"  
"Well, I didn't wake him up for no reason," Nami told you.  
Dammit.  
"Okay. Fine. Fine. I'll be out there."  
Shakily, you made your way out the door and looked around for Zoro.  
"Oh, he's not out here. Guess I ought to go back inside and - "  
"Who's not out here?"  
You spun around and jumped back a couple feet before gawking up at the source of the voice. As you put on that magnificent display of acrobatics, you shrieked. If anyone asked, that was your battle cry.  
You covered your mouth with both hands.  
There he was: Roronoa Zoro. Sitting on the railing above you, lifting a weight probably bigger than your whole...you was the man who hardly anyone saw and lived to tell about it.  
"I...uh...I guess I was mistaken...then..." you corrected yourself. "So...you're this...'Zoro' guy everyone's telling me about?"  
"Don't act tough after just hearing me talk freaked you out," he reprimanded you.  
"Uhh...sorry," you squeaked.  
"Yeah, I'm Zoro."  
"It was nice meeting you, Zoro," you said hastily, starting to head back into the cabin.  
"What's your name?"  
Oh, right. That was probably important.  
"[NAME]. My name is [NAME]."  
Before he could reply to that, you ran back into the cabin. All of your limbs that weren't already missing parts were fully intact, and you prided yourself on that.  
You let out a breath you didn't know you'd been holding.  
"See? He's not that ba - you ran away, didn't you?" Nami sighed.  
"No...I...um..."  
"You so did!" she told you, grabbing your hand. "Come on."  
"Oh, Nami...I don't...I don't think this is a - "  
"[NAME], it's fine," she said as she opened the door. "Zoro is nothing but a freakishly strong moron."  
You cringed inwardly. Don't say things like that! Jesus Christ, it's like you want us to die!  
"HEY!"  
Never in your life did you imagine you'd die so young for someone else's fault, not once.  
"Oh, don't give me that! [NAME] here is scared of you, Zoro. Fix it!"  
"Can't fix what's not broken. Maybe she has a good reason."  
Jesus.  
"ZORO, STOP IT."  
"Geez, I can't believe you woke me up for this," he grumbled, staring off at the horizon and away from the two of you.  
"Look, [NAME], Zoro is not going to chop your arm off or whatever the hell you think he's going to do."  
"That's what you say now," you mumbled under your breath.  
"Hey, if she wants me to, I'd be happy to oblige."  
"ZORO!"  
"What? I'm just joking. God."  
You wrenched your hand away from Nami and backed away from them.  
"Hey, if you do cut off my arm, please take my right one. It's useless without a hand anyway!"  
"[NAME], don't say things like that!"  
Zoro was laughing at this whole situation, and you started to wonder if you really had been wrong about him.  
"Okay, if that's all - "  
"Hey, [NAME], I'm not going to cut your arm off unless you give me a good reason."  
"Aaaaand she won't give you a good reason," Nami interjected.  
"Yeah, I think I'm good. I'll just sit in the cabin and behave myself for the duration of my stay. Pretend I never existed."  
Zoro put the giant barbell he'd been lifting down and jumped down to the deck.  
"I thought we'd established that I wasn't scary?"  
"Yes, and that's great," you replied, backing up again. "Buuuuut I just...don't want to take any chances..."  
Zoro looked at Nami. "Where did we get her?"  
"She was in a longboat, dying."  
"Sounds like a chance to me."  
"A different kind of chance that doesn't involve superhumans with swords," you argued.  
"Come on, even Usopp isn't scared of Zoro, and he's scared of everything," Nami tried.  
"Hey, I heard that!" Usopp protested from where he was yet again fishing.  
Sighing, you stuck out your hand. This was going to drag on forever.  
"Okay. Let's do this properly. I'm [NAME]."  
He shook your hand. "And I'm Zoro."  
Goddamn, he must have been twice your size.  
"Good. Good." You took your hand back and hid it behind your back. "Nice to meet you."  
He wasn't so scary...he was just fucking enormous. That was all.  
"So, just to be clear..."  
"I don't have any interest in fighting you."  
"Very good. I'll be going now."  
Puffing out your chest again(it made you feel stronger somehow), you walked around Zoro and went up into the galley. You kept going until you could sit down at the table. There was Sanji again: He'd remembered what he'd been doing in there earlier. That was good, because you couldn't seem to.  
He looked up when you came in.  
"He didn't do anything stupid did he?"  
There was silence before you realised there was no one in the room he could be talking to but yourself.  
"I...no?" you replied uncertainly.  
He set a cup of tea in front of you at the table.  
"He's not going to, is he?" you asked him.  
Sure, Zoro told you he wasn't going to hurt you, but you weren't convinced.  
Sanji smiled at you. "I won't let him."  
You were starting to fully understand that nothing he said could be taken one hundred percent seriously.  
"...If you say so, Sanji."  
"Drink your tea, [NAME]. It's a special brew that's supposed to help with headaches."  
You decided to humour him. You didn't think tea could do that for you, especially not with how bad your headache was.  
"Thanks."  
"Anything for you, my sweet!"  
Fear was slowly but surely being pushed out of the way and replaced with an uncomfortable feeling.  
The door opened, and that was no longer an issue. Your fear crept back into your mind as Zoro came in.  
"What do you want, Zoro?" Sanji asked him, animosity evident in his voice.  
"Relax, shithead, I just came in here for some booze."  
That he did. You watched him wearily as he took a bottle of what you figured was beer out of the refrigerator.  
He sat across the table from you so that he could lean against the wall.  
You seemed to have lost your ability to get up and move, which you so desperately wanted to do. Unfortunately, all you could do was sit there and sip your goddamn tea.  
"Watch your language around [NAME]," Sanji said.  
That was fucking ridiculous and unnecessary, you thought. As if you couldn't handle a supposedly off-colour word! Before you knew it, you were getting indignant enough to turn red, so you just kept drinking your tea to hide it. Let Sanji think what he wanted to think about you.  
"Come on, Sanji. You don't really think anyone's going to be scarred for life from a word, do you?"  
"It's disrespectful to curse in the presence of a lady," he retorted.  
Zoro turned to give you this 'is-he-for-real' look that you couldn't help but chuckle about.  
Dammit. You'd wanted to stay neutral.  
"You're just mad because I called you shithead," Zoro laughed, taking a swig.  
You bit your lip, watching the two. Would they fight in the galley? Did they care if they broke anything? These were the questions that you were concerned about at the moment.  
"You're such a careless brute, you know that?" Sanji snapped.  
"At least I'm not some useless wannabe ladies' man."  
You frowned. This wasn't heading in a very good direction, and you knew it. You were also pretty sure you were going to end up in the middle of whatever happened.  
So, the best thing you could do was try to stop it, right?  
"What are you guys even arguing about?" were the first words out of your mouth.  
Looking back on those words, you wondered why you thought that was the logical thing to say.  
Sanji and Zoro looked at you, seemingly confused as to why they were fighting themselves.  
"Zoro was being a thoughtless idiot again," Sanji replied.  
"And Sanji decided to open his stupid mouth," Zoro retorted.  
You frowned deeper.  
"I think you're both stupid," you said in the biggest bout of courage you had all day. With that, you stood from the table and left the room. You weren't supposed to give Zoro a reason to cut your arm off, and here you were insulting the man's intelligence.  
Oh, well. You lost one hand, why not get started on the other, right?  
"Are those idiots fighting again?" Nami asked you as you stepped back out above deck.  
"Yeah. But I don't know why," you told her, trying to resist the urge to look behind you.  
"Probably no reason for it," she grumbled. "Can't they act their age for five seconds?"  
As she spoke, she stomped into the galley. A minute or so later, she came back out with a beat up pair of men and subsequently dropped them on the floor.  
"Now, I need you guys to focus your energy on something useful. For instance, Zoro, I want you to clean up the ship. You got that?"  
Zoro jumped to his feet. "Now, hold on! I'm not taking orders from you!"  
"It's not like our captain is going to give out any orders. Do we really have to go through this again?!"  
"I'll help clean up," you piped up.  
You were quite certain you just kept getting stupider every time you opened your mouth.  
"Look, see? She'll do it herself," Zoro retorted as he gestured to you.  
"Zoro, you're going to help her! [NAME] only has one hand, in case you've forgotten!"  
"Fine."  
Nami tossed a mop each to the two of you. "Now get to work!"


	2. Chapter 2

Zoro, grumbling to himself, obliged anyway once he'd gotten to the far end of the ship. Resolving to stay away from Mr. Grumpy Grasshead over there, you went around behind the cabin to clean up. Every so often, you'd peek around the cabin to make sure Zoro was staying on the other side. After a bit of this, Zoro wasn't where he was anymore or even in your sights. You tried not to worry about it and went back to your cleaning. However, there was a presence behind you, and you spun around to face Zoro.  
You yelped, jumping back slightly.  
"Why are you spying on me?!" Zoro demanded. "It's creepy. Cut it out."  
"I...was...debating whether or not I should offer to help over there by...measuring your progress?" you lied unconvincingly.  
"You know that isn't a good weapon, right?"  
You looked down and discovered that you had taken up a defensive stance with your mop.  
"It could be," you argued.  
"Whatever, just stop watching me, weirdo."  
As he walked away, you habitually mocked him under your breath. With your luck, he had heard you and looked over his shoulder.  
"What was that?"  
"NOTHING!"  
Rolling his eyes, he went back to where he was working. Once he left, you realised that you were completely done with this section of the ship. Damn. That meant you had to go out there where Zoro was, and you could tell he didn't think very highly of you(you were just past the point of fearing for your life, but there was still room for worry in that area). Oh, well: You owed it to the Straw Hat Pirates to do some menial labour, and this was inevitable from the moment you'd volunteered to help him.  
Puffing out your chest for the umpteenth time, you walked out to where Zoro was and began helping him there. You kept a pretty reasonable distance, but you were still being helpful.  
Zoro looked up at you.  
"Look who managed to show her face out here. Or is this another spying attempt?"  
"I'm not spying on you!" you argued. "I'm just trying to help!"  
Zoro chuckled at you.  
"What's so funny?" you demanded.  
"You're so defensive."  
"Am not!"  
Oh, wait a minute.  
"What do you call that?"  
"...Not defensive?"  
He laughed.  
Never in your life did you think you'd enjoy the sound of someone laughing at your expense, not once.  
What kind of thinking was that? Really, [NAME]? Really?  
You cleared your throat and turned away from him.  
"Fine, if it makes you feel better, I won't even look at you. Now you can't accuse me of spying."  
"Whatever, kid," Zoro laughed.  
You were hopeless. You had started to shake due to a sudden onset of social anxiety, as if it wasn't hard enough to hold the mop. You dropped the goddamn thing at least six times before Zoro picked it up for you.  
"Having trouble?"  
You snatched it from him. "Not at all, not at all!" You tightened your grip on the handle considerably. "...Thanks."  
"You don't seem right."  
Was he insulting your face? He was probably insulting your face.  
"What does that mean?" you demanded.  
"Means you probably need to go talk to Chopper about whatever treatment he's using on you. You look like you're about to throw up, and I wouldn't want to clean that up."  
"...Kay," you replied, taking your mop to the cabin with you. Before you entered the door, you turned around once more to say, "But I'll be back!"  
"Sure. Whatever."  
You turned back into the cabin and leaned the mop against the wall. "Doctor, am I supposed to be taking some kind of medicine?" you asked.  
"Huh? Well...no. You shouldn't need anymore pain medicine. I gave you enough earlier. Why, what's wrong?"  
You shrugged. "Feeling a little woozy. And queasy. All that good stuff."  
"It could be a side affect of the medicine."  
"So...there's nothing I can do?"  
Chopper shook his head. "Nope. Just let it wear off."  
"I'm not going to puke, am I?"  
That was just what you needed.  
"No, I don't think you will. I think it's just a feeling. It should wear off soon."  
"Well, you're the doctor," you said, picking the mop back up. "Bye then."  
'Soon' must have been a relative term, for you were still feeling pretty sick long after you'd finished helping tidy up the ship. Maybe your mind was clearing up and you'd just realised how stupid you'd acted over the course of one day with these people. How in god's name would you even survive a whole month? The simple answer was probably that you wouldn't. Asking stupid questions was apparently just too much fun.  
"Who really is Straw Hat Luffy?"  
It had been two weeks, and your curiosity was eating at you. You'd been doing a pretty good job of staying in the lower cabin. That way you only had to see Chopper(when he gave you treatments), Sanji(he was more than happy to serve you food outside of the galley), Nami, and Robin(those two slept in the lower cabin).  
Nami gave you a puzzled look, and Robin and Chopper looked up from their tasks to do the same.  
"What are you talking about, [NAME]?" Nami finally responded in a voice that said 'god you're a moron'.  
"I, uh, I mean...what I said...?"  
"[NAME]," Nami responded with a small chuckle in her voice, "Luffy is Luffy, and that's all there is to it."  
"Are you serious?" you prodded, eyebrows raised. "You mean Zoro's not Luffy?"  
"What are you going on about?" Robin piped up.  
It was rare to hear her talk. This must have been a very special case of stupidity.  
"I mean, like...I haven't seen Luffy do anything that indicates he would actually earn such an impressive bounty..."  
"He threw you into the outer cabin wall and nearly gave you permanent brain damage," Robin pointed out.  
"Well..."  
He had that. But did he really get a big bounty from throwing small women into walls?  
"Look, I know exactly what you're thinking," Nami told you. "Everyone thinks the same thing when they meet Luffy. He's actually really strong. When the time comes for him to get serious, he does. Believe me. And he's not the only one, either. Everyone here has that quality about them. When they're ready to fight to the death, they mean it."  
You gulped, readily believing every word she said.  
"So, no. Zoro's not Luffy. Luffy could destroy Zoro," Nami concluded.  
"Not that he would," Robin added as she returned her attention to that book she was always reading, "unless he had to."  
But why would he ever have to kill his own crewmate? That was a question you didn't feel was okay to voice. Good on you for thinking.  
"[NAME]," Chopper spoke up, "I know you don't really like leaving the cabin, but it might do you some good to go get some fresh air."  
Reluctantly, you stood up. You knew he was right. Besides, it didn't feel too great to sit around all the time. You were far from lethargic, so you might as well show it.  
Never in your life did you think you'd enjoy the night sky so much as you did once you stepped out, not once.  
You turned and climbed up the stairs(you'd gone out the bottom door, as you knew the rest of the crew slept in the galley)as if you wanted to just be closer to the stars. You leaned your elbows on the railing, propping up your head. Never in your life had you seen so many stars in one place, not once. As a matter of fact, the damn things just about coloured the whole sky.  
"Haven't seen you in a while."  
You started, looking around to see who would dare disturb you while you were daydreaming.  
"Up here, genius."  
Your eyes finally traveled up the mainmast to the crow's nest.  
Oh, right. You forgot the crew had a watch schedule. And of course it would be Zoro's turn on the night you decided to come out of your little cave.  
"Where have you been? Hiding from the big, bad pirates?"  
Your opened your mouth to argue you were also a big, bad pirate.  
"Don't try to tell me you are a pirate. You had no crew when we found you, you haven't been kissing the captain's ass or trying to fight him, and, let's not forget, you're a huge wimp."  
Was that a smug grin on his face? That was probably a smug grin on his face.  
"Fine," you finally admitted when you realised there was no arguing with this asshole, "I'm not a pirate. So, what are you going to do? Execute me for the crime of lying to you?"  
"Why is everything murder with you?" Zoro asked, eyebrow raised. "You need to relax."  
"Don't tell me to relax! You aren't surrounded by people who are bigger and stronger than you!"  
Yes, even Chopper could be bigger and stronger than you on occasion(much to your dismay).  
"Oh, so you're upset because you're short," he decided, nodding as if what he'd said made perfect sense to him.  
"No!" you barked. "I'm upset because I'm a tragedy magnet."  
Zoro raised an eyebrow. "A 'tragedy magnet'?"  
"Don't mock me up there," you huffed.  
Those weren't the exact words you'd meant to say.  
"What were you really doing out there by yourself besides fishing with your hand like a dumbass?"  
You fiddled nervously with your fingers.  
"What do you care?"  
"I just want to know what the hell you were doing out there, dying. I mean, especially since you have apparent issues with putting your life on the line."  
"Well, if you must know," you replied after actually thinking about how you were to word this, "I came from a pirate ship."  
"Here we go with the pirate lie again," Zoro sighed, turning his attention back to his watch duties.  
"It isn't a lie!" you protested. "I really was on a pirate ship! I didn't say I was a pirate!"  
Perhaps you hadn't thought too hard about your words.  
"I think you were just running away from home and forgot to pack for it."  
You sighed dramatically, heading back down the stairs.  
"Think whatever you want; I'm going to bed," you told him. "Arguing with your stupid ass tired me out."  
You were in the lower cabin before he could say anything in response that you could hear.


	3. Chapter 3

You knew for a fact now that Zoro didn't like you. You had actually stayed well over a month on the ship, and no sign of an island anywhere showed up. Every time you brought this up, Nami simply shrugged and apologised. She always went back to the old Logue Pose conversation. Aside from that, you were once again making a conscious effort to avoid Zoro. He made it obvious that he looked down on you. He couldn't remember your name half the time, instead making up about a hundred new - and often unpleasant - names for you(that you would respond to like a moron). It sucked. You were starting to be okay with Zoro, and it would have been nice if he would be okay with you, too. Unfortunately, at this point, it seemed you would have to somehow prove yourself worthy of his acquaintance.  
You'd seen how Zoro was with his friends: He was a really cool person. You didn't really want him to be like that for you, of course. That was wishful thinking. All you needed was for him to quit being indifferent toward you.  
You weren't at all sure what to do about your sorry situation, though, and that sucked even worse.  
"Don't worry about it, [NAME]," Sanji had told you. "He isn't worth all the thought you're putting into him."  
You sighed. "I guess it is stupid for me to want everyone to like me."  
Everyone else on the ship liked you okay, after all. It was just Zoro who had a problem.  
"You're perfectly likeable," Sanji chided gently. "He's just a moron."  
You had no problem agreeing with that last statement, so why did you care so goddamn much?  
You sighed and headed out of the galley to get some fresh air(something you'd been getting a lot of lately). Your mind was so clouded that it took you a moment to register just what you were seeing just over the horizon. Suddenly, it became evident that you had glimpsed another ship instead of land like you had hoped. You sighed, leaning down to prop your head and elbows up on the railing. At this point, land was wishful thinking even though it really shouldn't have been. It seemed all the islands you were ever going to see again in your life were passed while you were still being treated. Never in your life did you think you were this close to crying out of frustration as a grown woman, not once. Fortunately, you were able to hold your frustration back.  
It didn't take that ship long to come fully into view, and you took another look at it.  
It flew a pirate flag. Oh, that's nice. Of course, it took you another minute to recognise the ship.  
Your jaw dropped and you gaped at it dumbly. It wasn't coming to the Merry. It couldn't have been. This was unreal. Unfortunately, your mind powers weren't working, and the ship was, indeed, heading straight for the Straw Hats. With all the grace of a terrified chicken, you turned and scrambled desperately back into the galley. You made a mad dash through the room and to the stairs, leaving a very confused Sanji in your wake.  
You dove bravely under the bed, which of course got the attention of Robin(who had decided to stay indoors to read that day).  
"[NAME]?" she registered. "Is that you?"  
You could hear her putting her book down.  
"What are you doing under the bed?"  
You peeked out at her.  
"Oh, right," you replied, "I, uh, should have said something. I saw a pirate ship, and it's headed our way."  
She sprouted a few hands from the floor and dragged you out into the open.  
"You don't need to be hiding under there," she assured you. "Usually, when we fight pirates, they don't come into the cabin anyway."  
"...Really?"  
"Yes. You should be fine, unless these pirates are intent on searching for something specifically on our boat or the fight gets dragged indoors."  
"...Thanks."  
Robin was never very good at reassuring you of anything.  
She turned to leave.  
"Wait, Robin..."  
She turned her head back towards you. "Something else?"  
"...I know those pirates. I...I was running away from them when you guys found me..."  
She raised an eyebrow and turned back away from you. "And here I thought you were fishing," she remarked in a sort of joking way before she left the room.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey, Luffy," Zoro called. "We've got some trouble coming."  
Luffy came out of the galley, leaving you to watch what happened from a porthole.  
Usopp put his hand on the door handle, but turned to you before he followed Luffy out.  
"You coming, too?"  
You shook your head rapidly. No one knew what relation you had to these pirates, so they couldn't understand why you were having such a hard time just seeing them again.  
"Well, why not? They don't look so tough."  
"For you, maybe," you replied bitterly.  
You knew very well Usopp wasn't a freak of nature like everyone else on the ship, but you also knew that he was used to seeing a lot worse than these guys every day.  
"Fine, whatever," he sighed, waving you off as he stepped out the door. "It's for the best that you stay back in here, anyway."  
You sighed, banging your forehead against the wall a couple of times before the sound of voices drew your attention back to the window. The despicable captain whose smarmy face you knew all too well was holding up a white flag as he cautiously stepped onto the Going Merry. Luffy regarded him as he would any suspicious character, his arms crossed and his senses obviously wide alert. You could hear everything they said, and it wasn't a very pleasant experience.  
"Hello! I assume you're Straw Hat Luffy? People call me Thin Thief Thistle, but I'll let you all call me Thistle for now."  
"Thin Thief?" Sanji repeated skeptically. "Why's that?"  
Thistle smirked. "I ate a devil fruit," he explained smugly as he held out one of his arms. The arm seemed to squish itself nearly out of existance. "The Paper Paper Fruit, to be more precise."  
You were still convinced that was a dumb power after all this time.  
"The powers of the Paper Paper Fruit allow me to change any part of my body to be as thin as a piece of paper or as thick as a dictionary."  
"Well, that's interesting and everything, but what are you doing on our ship?"Zoro demanded.  
"Oh, that's right," Thistle remembered. "I almost forgot! I lost a little something a while back and thought perhaps you people had picked it up. Well, it's less of a something than it is a someone. Have you picked up any strange stowaways lately? I'm only looking for one."  
"Depends on who you're looking for," Sanji told him.  
"A girl. [NAME] is her name, if I remember correctly. She's not that big, and she has [HC] hair? Does that ring a bell?"  
"What do you want with her?" Luffy piped up.  
"Want with her?" Thistle laughed. "Why, she's only my daughter. Is it so wrong to want to take my daughter back home? Her mother is very worried about her."  
Goddammit.


	5. Chapter 5

That fucking liar! You couldn't believe this. You could see what was about to happen, and you weren't going to stand for it. You threw the galley door open and stomped out onto the deck, stopping right in front of Thistle with your hands on your hips.  
"This man is a liar," you declared.  
Then again, you supposed it came down to a matter of who they believed more.  
"[NAME], he says he's your father," Usopp explained. "Did you run away from home?"  
You spun around, indignant and glaring. "I did not run away from home!" you snapped. "This pirate took me away from home and tried to sell me off! I'm lucky I'm here!"  
Zoro raised an eyebrow. "How do we know this isn't another lie?"  
Your glare shifted quickly to the swordsman. You jabbed a finger into his chest as you hissed, "Listen here, tough guy, I know you have a problem with me, but I'm not lying to save my own skin this time. Thistle kidnapped me, and that's the truth!"  
Zoro pushed you away from him. "Calm down, [NAME]. I was joking."  
He said your name. How nice of him.  
"This isn't the time for jokes," you huffed, turning back around.  
"This is ridiculous," Thistle piped up. "I don't care if you're handing her over or not, [NAME] is coming back with me and that's final. It looks like you've found out my true motive, but it won't matter for much longer! For, you see, you've just crossed the Thistle Pirates!"  
With that, he thinned himself out and floated back to his ship.  
"Uh...wasn't he going to fight us?" Sanji asked.  
"Who knows?" Zoro sighed.  
"I dragged you guys into this mess. I'm sorry," you lamented. "I'll hold them off if you want me to."  
"What could you do by yourself, kid?" Zoro taunted.  
"More than you're giving me credit for: That's for sure!" you snapped.  
"That's not what he meant, [NAME]," Luffy told you calmly. "He means we're going to fight with you. It doesn't matter how strong you are, you can't take on an entire crew of pirates yourself."  
You looked back at Zoro sheepishly, who simply nodded to you.  
"...Are you guys sure...?"  
"Of course we're sure," Nami told you. "We wouldn't just say that."  
"Well, I know that, but...I mean, it seems like a lot of energy to expend for someone who came aboard and lied to you all."  
"We face worse all the time," Nami assured you.  
"Besides, I get it," Zoro added. "It makes sense you wouldn't trust us, given your history with pirates."  
Why was he being so nice all of the sudden?  
"It's not like you told a hurtful lie," Luffy reasoned.  
"Why are you all talking like we're about to go into battle?" Usopp piped up, his legs obviously shaking. "He just sort of floated away. There's no telling if he'll be ba - "  
The sharpshooter was interrupted when a canon sailed over the ship, landing close enough to rock it.  
"That was a warning!" Thistle's voice boomed from the ship. "If you give the girl up now, you won't have to see my true fury!"  
"What are they even after?" Sanji wondered aloud.  
"Money," you replied shortly.  
"Money?" Nami repeated, dumbfounded.  
"What? Do you have money on you or something?" Zoro speculated.  
"No! Of course not!" you huffed.  
Why the hell was that so infuriating? It really shouldn't have been.  
"Then, why do they think you're going to give them money? Didn't you tell them you don't have any?" Luffy asked confusedly.  
These guys really were dense. You wanted to laugh at the thought of your utter terror when you first saw them. They didn't seem to do anything particularly 'piratey' - at least, not as you saw pirates. Never in your life did you think you'd inwardly berate Straw Hat Luffy like this, not once. Of course, you didn't ever think your work would be cut out for you in that regard, either. But, here you were.  
"It's the slave trade," you sighed. "They want to sell me to someone and they think I'm worth a lot of money for some reason."  
"Selling people?" Luffy asked, dumbfounded.  
This was mentally exhausting.  
"Yes," Robin piped up. "It happens a lot more than you might think, Luffy. A lot of pirates do it, and it really does bring in a lot of money."  
"But it's selfish!" you butted in, not appreciating the fact that she had made it sound a little on the pleasant side. "Sure, it brings the traders money, but the person sold has everything taken away from them, even their free will."  
"Don't worry about it, [NAME], we're not going to let that happen to you," Sanji reassured you.  
"Yeah," Zoro agreed. "It's a despicable thing to do to someone."  
"We'll kick his ass," Luffy added.  
You smiled slightly.  
"And I'll help you."


	6. Chapter 6

Usopp wouldn't stop talking the entire time the two of you were below decks.  
You weren't even sure what he was saying, just that he was talking about the special armour he had made for you and stuffed you into. Before you knew it, you looked like a toddler in a cheap Halloween warrior costume, complete with weapons that didn't seem very useful.  
In spite of how ridiculous and potentially worthless you felt in this getup, you smiled at the sharpshooter and thanked him.  
With a haughty grin, he continued to talk about himself and...you missed what the story was that time around when he climbed above the decks. He evidently thought you were following him.  
Wait, were you supposed to?  
Well, that was the next logical step. You sighed and adjusted your makeshift armour. Sure, you had faith in Usopp's design skills(for some reason), but that didn't change the fact you felt like a plaything.  
"Ready to earn your keep?" Zoro greeted you as you set foot on the deck.  
"Yeah," you replied simply, throwing in a dumb nod for good measure.  
Luffy grinned, his eyes seeming to light up as he dashed over to where you were.  
"Whoa, [NAME]! That's so awesome!" he exclaimed, examining you closely.  
"...Thanks?"  
"You gonna be able to focus, captain?" Zoro asked.  
"Oh! Right!"  
Luffy spun around and stared at the ship connected to the Merry.  
"How come they're taking so long over there?"  
"They think they're piling on the suspense: Making you guys think they're gathering a mighty crew of thousands of men. It works on passenger ships and stuff, so I guess they figured it would work on a smallish pirate crew...?" you explained.  
"Pfft," Usopp scoffed. "That's child's play."  
"So why are you hiding behind me?" Zoro demanded, moving away from the shaking man.  
"Well, I don't want to wait any longer," Luffy stated firmly as he stretched his right arm back as far as it would go.  
What was he doing? You couldn't help but wonder as you watched what looked like Luffy preparing for a punch.  
In an instant, the fist was buried in the other ship, the wood cracking and splintering like crazy around the point of entry.  
You tensed, and it seemed you weren't the only one surprised by this little move.  
"Luffy, what the hell?" Nami demanded.  
"You said you wanted a fight!" Luffy called to the other pirate crew. "So, let's fight! Quit hiding and face me like a man!"  
Thistle stepped out of hiding. "Ohhh, you're lucky you won't live long enough to regret doing that to my ship."  
"Big talk for someone who's spending all his time hiding!" Luffy taunted.  
"That's where you're wrong! While you were all busy flapping your gums at each other, I've had the opportunity to station my men around you!"  
As if proving his point, you heard several pairs of feet land heavily behind you all. You yelped and jumped away from them after spinning yourself around. Your outh hung agape even as your adopted crewmates went to town on the opposing pirates with their swords, fists, slingshot, and feet. Watching in awe as Robin restrained men in ropes made up of her arms, Luffy's fists worked like a gatling gun, Chopper transformed into multiple strong or agile forms, Sanji kicked hard enough to send men flying off the ship or into each other, Usopp used his childish slingshot as if it were a pistol, and Zoro, barely even trying, cut several enemies down with his three swords, you started to wonder if you could be of any use at all. Sanji had given you a pistol he kept tucked away in just such emergencies, but all you could do was stare at it and wonder if you could even figure out how to use it.  
You looked back up at the battle scene. Zoro's back wasn't covered. What was he thinking? Of course there was someone sneaking up on him and preparing to slit his throat. Why couldn't he think of this kind of stuff?  
"ZORO!" you shrieked a lot louder than you'd intended, causing him to spin around and end the attack before it began.  
Zoro shot you a rather grateful-looking smirk.  
"Thanks, [NAME]. I owe you one."  
One what?  
You took a deep breath and situated yourself into a more battle-ready pose with the pistol. You still looked ridiculous, you were sure, with your improvised armour, but at least you were aiming the pistol correctly. That was a start.  
As you were looking for people to shoot, an arm came around to cover your mouth rather forcefully. In a panic, you started flailing your legs wildly and clawing at the offending arm even as you felt yourself be lifted off the ground. The last thing you felt before you were completely out of it was a needle stabbing into your neck.  
"[NAME]!"


	7. Chapter 7

It was dark and cold. All you could see was the infernal cage bars and some other human shapes. Everything was becoming clear to you now, clear and horribly familiar. You didn't want to say the Straw Hats had failed you, considering how hard they tried to keep you out in the real world with them. Unfortunately, try as they might, that was just what they did: They failed you.  
"She isn't completely intact anymore, but she'll still go for a high price."  
You wanted to cry, but no part of you seemed content with listening to your brain. All you could do was stare out of this hazy fog in your eyes and think about how much you wanted to cry and punch something. Your cell door opened with a squeak. All you could do about it was sit there and think about how much you wanted to run back out into the open air. You remembered your previous days on Thistle's ship, every one of them hazy and uneventful like this one. When you started to regain control of your motor functions, they brought the needle back.  
Your face was grabbed and turned from side to side several times before whoever had just come in began examining the rest of you. You couldn't slap the hands away. All of your energy was devoted to staying awake. It felt like forever before the hands gave you back your own body. Voices were discussing what they should do to prepare you for the market. The air in your lungs felt heavy.  
At some point, you picked up rapid footsteps. The owner wasn't even trying to disguise them, but the men talking before you didn't seem to notice at all. Maybe it was another of their friends rushing in to warn them.  
All at once, the voices stopped. You heard nothing but footsteps drawing nearer. They were quite a bit slower than the new ones before. All at once, they stopped, and you were being lifted once again.  
"No..." you protested weakly as your voice was coming back to you. "S...top...touch...ing...me..."  
"Calm down."  
You calmed down.  
Never in your life did you think you'd be so happy to hear that voice, not once.  
"Zo...ro..."  
The footsteps started again as you were just making out your savior's facial features.  
"Geez, what did they do to you? Can you even move?"  
"I am...I'm...tr...apped..."  
You were pretty sure he didn't say anything in response to that. In fact, it probably sounded ungrateful among other things. What the hell were you thinking, spouting off about how you were trapped? Stupid, [NAME], stupid.  
You weren't sure when your surroundings changed, but you could see the room you'd started out in in the beginning as well as make out some happily familiar voices.  
"...in...system..."  
"What's that?"  
"...heavy drug...recover...few days...antidote..."  
Consciousness faded out again. You weren't sure when you were completely awake again, but you certainly didn't die. You stirred and sat up, rubbing your eyes. As your vision finally returned to you in full, you were met with the sight of Zoro walking over to the door to let everyone know you were finally awake. Yes, he used the term 'finally', which lead you to wonder how long it had been.  
"Hi, Zoro," you greeted dumbly.  
What a magnificent choice in your first words.  
He turned to look at you.  
"Morning, [NAME]," he replied teasingly.  
"How long?"  
"How long were you asleep? Two days. That must have been some powerful stuff they gave you. Chopper made an antidote, but you still slept forever."  
You nodded. "That sounds about right. The stuff usually lasts almost a month."  
Soon, the entire crew was flooding back into the cabin to greet you.  
"Hey! Look who finally woke up!" Luffy laughed.  
It was quite the interesting reunion. Chopper, for one, was quite happy that the antidote had worked(but, of course, he wouldn't let anyone know even as he was practically gloating about how great it was that he'd come up with such a thing). Usopp had made you a hand, though it was just as awkward and cheesy as the armour he'd made for you earlier. Nonetheless, you were quite grateful to replace the empty space with something that at least sort of looked like it belonged there. Finally, Nami provided you with the biggest shock.  
"Hey, [NAME], we've been docked at an island since this morning. I know it's been a long time and all you want to do is get off this ship, so I thought I'd let you know while we were still restocking," she informed you.  
Your eyes widened. Never in your life did you think you would see land again, not once.  
"Are you...serious?" you asked her in shock, even as you were pulling yourself to your feet.  
You pushed through the crowd of Straw Hats to look at this alleged land, and, sure enough, it was there. You laughed, almost too relieved at seeing something that only a couple days ago seemed like a dream. You were, in fact, so happy that you could feel the impulse to grab Nami's face and kiss it all over rising within you. Of course, you restrained yourself, but you were still ecstatic.  
The crew seemed a little awkward as you turned back to them. They were smiling, but it was a crowd of awkward little smiles. Zoro hadn't followed them out onto the decks. Suddenly, you didn't know what to do. Never in your life did you think you'd have a hard time choosing between a pirate ship and an island, not once. Then again, these were the people who'd picked you up without question when you were close to death, who'd cut off your hand when it posed a fatal threat to the rest of you, who'd put up with how big a pussy and a liar you were and fought alongside you in battle at great risk to themselves.  
These were the people who made you felt more at home than you'd felt in god only knew how long, and you were not going to abandon them.  
"I...well...it's really great to see land again," you told Nami with a half-hearted smile, an obvious 'but' in your voice.  
"I'm just glad we were able to find land before you died of old age," Nami laughed good-naturedly, though she seemed slightly regretful as well.  
"I wouldn't...I mean..."  
"It's obvious what you're trying to say, so why don't you just stay with us?" Luffy interrupted rather bluntly.  
While blunt enough to be rude, Luffy was telling the truth. You were glad he'd said something. You couldn't very well throw yourself on these people without knowing whether the captain liked you or not.  
"You mean it?" you squeaked hopefully.  
"Yeah, of course."  
"Luffy, don't be so insensitve. All she's wanted to do since she's gotten here was leave!" Nami snapped at him.  
"Well, she wants to stay," he told her firmly.  
"Who are you to decide that?"  
"I didn't decide it."  
"He's right," you laughed nervously to interrupt the argument. "Actually...I think it'd be...pretty damn amazing to keep sailing with all of you...if that's - "  
Before you could finish, cheers were rising up from the crew. A goofy grin spread across your face as you took note of how happy they were just to have you there.  
All that was missing was Zoro, still somewhere in that cabin. He probably figured he'd said his good-byes and was going to leave you to it, so of course he was surprised when you came back into the room.  
"Forget something, [NAME]?" he asked.  
You shrugged, wondering if Zoro liked having you around nearly as much as everyone else.  
"Actually, I'm not...I'm not leaving."  
He raised his eyebrows. "Is that right?"  
You nodded, unable to hold back on grinning like a dumbass again.  
"Luffy told me I could stay on board, and I accepted."  
Zoro grinned right back at you, leaving you dumb with shock. Perhaps he'd gotten used to you after all.  
"Good to hear, [NAME]."  
"Hey, uh, Zoro?"  
He looked back up at you.  
"You think we have a chance to be friends now?" you asked him nervously.  
"Sure," he laughed, "as long as you promise not to hide from me again."  
You giggled as if that was the funniest thing you had ever heard in your life.  
"One...other thing..."  
"Yeah?"  
"How did you guys get rid of Thistle?" you asked, rather sheepish because you were utterly useless the last half of the battle.  
"Luffy hit him pretty hard, and he flew over his own ship and landed in the ocean. His crew was either passed out or occupied with fighting us, so no one was able to jump in and save him before it was too late."  
You gulped, though you weren't sure why. Half of you felt the morbidity and weight of what Zoro had implied, but the other half was utterly relieved above all else to finally be free for good.  
"I, uh...I'm really grateful to all of you for helping me like that...even after I lied to you all," you mumbled.  
"What would you have done?" he asked pointedly, turning to go up the stairs and leave you to think about his insightful question.  
Under ordinary circumstances, that's just what would have happened.  
However, you seemed to bolden up in two seconds flat and do something to change the path you were on.  
You had to stand on your tiptoes and wrap your arms loosely around his neck for it to work, but your lips were on his. Honestly, you surprised yourself. You wondered if you should let go of him and drown yourself in the ocean. At least you could die happy.  
You wouldn't believe anyone at that moment if they'd told you something more surprising was to come.  
Never in your life did you imagine Roronoa Zoro would kiss you back.  
Not once.


	8. Author's Note

Thank you very much for taking time out of your day to read this! It means a lot to me. I hope you find a hundred dollars laying on the sidewalk. I apologise it took me so long to get my butt in gear and wrap it up, but I've always had an issue with ending a story. That, and, a lot happened to be going on during the time I wrote it. Trust me, though, when I say it took a lot longer to write than it appeared to have, considering I didn't actually have anywhere to publish it when I started.  
If I had to acknowledge anyone, it would be to anyone who read this and especially those who reviewed it and therefore encouraged me to move forward[never in my life did I think anyone would care enough to review this, not once!]. I also thank my sister for giving me a reason to write a ZoroXReader story, even though I actually just wanted an excuse aside from 'I wanted to write it'.  
Again, I thank you for reading. If you have anything to say on it, please do review! As long as you aren't anonymous, I will do my best to respond to you as well as I can.


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